Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Venus

Brendan and I went to the pictures on Sunday evening. Our choice was Venus, the recent movie for which Peter O'Toole got an Oscar nomination.

It was a great movie. I had a few tears in my eyes at the sad moment, but, surprisingly enough, I didn't cry.

It's the story of an old man who meets an 18-year-old girl and strikes a relationship with her - part lust, part friendship, part just anything to break the loneliness and to feel the human touch again.

I found it very good - it's not sickly sweet or cringy, yet it's not over sad or dramatic. There are a lot of laughs - this is not a sad little old man, here. It's a man who's always loved women, and craves a woman's touch and company, even if she is a sulky teenager, who's really only interested in pretty dresses, nice jewelry and boys her own age.

It's also a good reminder of what it's like to grow old alone - who is going to touch your hand? who is going to clip your toenails? And the wheeze! Although this old man still has plenty of life in him, his breathing is that of a dying man. Darth Vader eat your heart out!

Peter O'Toole was brilliant in it. Apart from Lawrence of Arabia, I can't think of any other movies he's made - yet, he's been nominated for Oscars 8 times. There is a summary of his career on the movie website, and I can't say I've heard of too many of the movies he was in. Isn't that a bit sad? If this turns out to be his last movie, I'll be glad I saw it!